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Marleys Ghost

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Blog Entries posted by Marleys Ghost

  1. Marleys Ghost
    The new Indoor Lighting Optimization is truly a fine addition to the Engine. It has taken a little while to get into the habit of automatically setting the lights to Dynamic, Dynamic + Static, Static or Dynamic + Static + Buffered, as well as the needed setting for the objects in the scene. Objects that would normally always be static I have, for the time being, simply added an ini file to set them to static automatically. This will later be set via their scripts but for now it suffices.
     

  2. Marleys Ghost
    I have not entirely made my mind up on the new SSDO (screen-space directional occlusion). I liked, in some circumstances, the effect SSAO gave, especially on bump mapped brick textures. But I find SSDO to be quite "fizzy" possibly from the curve on the camera look values. This may well be down to settings but so far try as I might I still get this. Not sure it will be useful in an FPS situation as the HUD model seems to interact.
     

     
    It does however have a very pleasing effect on "organic" assets.
     

     
    I think I will "play" some more with it, see if I can reduce the "fizzing".
  3. Marleys Ghost

    Finally

    By Marleys Ghost,

    Well, after much testing I have decided on an actual 3D modelling app to use in my workflow. I already have Blender, and while there are some very skilled users of this on the forum (Niosop and afecelis spring to mind and their tutorials are definitely worth checking out), I still find its user interface awkward and clumsy. So I demo'd a few different ones that would not break the bank. In the end I decided on AC3D. I find it simple to use and has enough features for what I wanted it for. 3DWS is still my main application for creating architecture, but I needed something for what I call redundant decoration, and so far AC3D has proved to be just what I was looking for.
     
     
    Redundant Decoration is simply my term for low poly non functional assets, like in the picture below, filing cabinets, desks, fake PC's ect.
     

     
     
    Filing Cabinet: 12 Polys
    Desk: 192 Polys (currently, still room for "pruning")
    PC Screen & Keyboard: 70 Polys
     
    The textures still need some work, but using a combination of ShaderMap Pro and manual editing on the normal maps has produced some promising results.
     
    So far I am impressed with AC3D, and would recommend to those who were looking for a low priced 3D Modeller to check out its 14 day demo. Combined with 3DWS, Blender and UU3D I think I have this side of development sewn up application wise.
  4. Marleys Ghost

    Weather or not

    By Marleys Ghost,

    Well nothing much to report, that does not mean nothing much has been going though
     
    I have decided that as and when I make an emitter for a specific purpose, I will now create its own editor entity to save time by not having to create the exact same settings over and over. Also not every setting available needs to be adjusted so I will now re-write the properties to reflect what they effect and remove the ones not requiring adjusting for a particular effect and simply hard code them into the script.
     

     
    This sort of came about when thinking about trying to get weather effects into the editor and eventually into an app. This is one I did for snow. It's a simple emitter used to create a localised snow effect in the Leadwerks Editor, using a custom .dds file for the snow flake created in Paint.NET
     


  5. Marleys Ghost
    Josh reported Christmas eve that There was a crazy sale on Steam and if you hadn't played STALKER, you could get it for $10.. well I had replaced my damaged copy only two days before that via steam .. and had cost me a whopping £1.39 ($2.22).. well if the $10 (£6.99) was still too steep a price for you, get over to steam now as its now only £2.00 ($3.24).. http://store.steampowered.com/app/4500/
     
     
     
    Ignore the date on this entry it was posted today (Jan 3rd 2010) but the Blog date system only goes up to 2009 for me there must be a switch around here somewhere ..
  6. Marleys Ghost
    Well, its been almost a week since the release of 2.3 and although I have been working away at it there is still so much new functionality I have not had a chance to fully explore yet. I decided the best approach would be to go back to basics, so to speak. Investigate how the new lua scripting and other features would cross over to C++ and Framewerk, this is still on going for me, and I am mixing that aspect in with getting to grips with the new functions in the editor. All in all I am impressed.
     
    The only real problem I have at the moment is do I continue learning C++, I have after all only been coding in it for about two months, or change to Bmax or just concentrate on scripting. I am trying to decide which would be best for the new functionality of 2.3
     
    For me this is key and the basic building block for any venture, especially an actual game. I am looking forward to the tutorials on lua and how it can be used. I do think we have entered a very exciting time with LE, and patience is still needed.
     
    As I always say " Grant me patience lord .... but hurry up!! "
  7. Marleys Ghost
    To prevent non Leadwerks Engine specific entries from my Blog being automatically published here via the Blog Feed, I have removed that functionality, and will simply add a new entry title and link here for all Leadwerks Engine specific entries.
     
     
    Leadwerks Specific Blog Entry.
     
     
    A* Pathfinding MapData Generator.
  8. Marleys Ghost
    "We're pleased to share the first ever in-game trailer for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the next installment in The Elder Scrolls series from award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3, Bethesda Game Studios. "
     


     
    You might find you need to log into Youtube to view the trailer for age verification.
     
    It seems Skyrim will be released world-wide on 11.11.11 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC ... so something to look forward to at the end of the year other than the cold weather. If they release another instalment of Fallout at the same time ... then hibernation this coming winter will just not be an option
  9. Marleys Ghost
    Just a little update, I have managed only to grab a few hours here and there to spend on this since last Monday, and its now looking like it will not be until thursday when I can get into it like I did last monday. So heres a quick low quality video of how it stands at the moment.
     
    Have a good week all.
     
    I hope to get V0.02 uploaded by the end of the week.
     
     


     
    Showcase Page
     
    Source
  10. Marleys Ghost
    Furious Frank V0.01 came about from my requirement to have a simple application in which to test code in my code archives from the last year. It What was supposed to be a simple cleaning out the harddrive exercise got a little side-tracked. This version was achieved in about 14 hours on a Monday.
     
    MAGIA .. Monday
     
    MAGIA .. Monday ... and a little bit
     
    Furious Frank V0.02 is the 10 or so hours I have worked on it since. With the prospect of a whole 3 days ahead with nothing to take up my time, I wanted to get Furious Frank V0.02 uploaded and start on Furious Frank V0.03. It has so far taken the best part of 3 hours to wrestle out that which was required for this demo from my oh so tidy development folder.
     
    I have coded the settings to make this still an easy "game", but as its still in development with feedback on the functionality and performance being more important, if you died in a few seconds then there would be nothing to report, except maybe "its too hard ".
     
    When you die you die, so keep that health topped up.
     
    Not had anytime yet to code and develop a spawning system for the Bugs so I kind of just drop them in on the player, so, wear a hat.
     
    Showcase Page & Download Link Here.
     
    Source
  11. Marleys Ghost
    Time is proving to be a most scarce commodity at the moment. So having a few hours spare I set myself some tasks and as usual did something completely different I started work on a room and ended up on a new 90 degree section, corridor doorway section (with separate reusable door frame / doors and simple placeholder keypad switch box all to need textures), a few WIP scripts for the doors and some hashed together sound FX for them to and a short corridor "Door Plug" section to allow the standard sections to fit the door frame. Part of the plan for this modular approach to the level is that as many sections/parts as possible will be able to "plug" into each other. I also wanted to test out some new base metal textures to try and break up the "monotone" look. The door keypad switch would also require some sort of 3rd person object interaction functionality which was hastily coded and again as with everything else, still very much a WIP.
     
     
    Simple keypad switch prop:
     

     
    Development in Silo PRO:
     

     
    A quick medium resolution video to show the "worksite" test scene. I can't take credit for the blue and yellow textures they are curtesy of Paint.NET's floodfill tool..
     
     


     
     
    Hopefully next week I will be able to free up more than only a few hours to get fully back into this "adventure", but I was not unhappy with the progress I made in only two hours.
     
    Source
  12. Marleys Ghost

    MAGIA .. Monday

    By Marleys Ghost,

    Feeling the need to finally start sorting through my storage HDD's I came across my Blitzmax code library. I needed to test the code snippets and sort through what was worth keeping and what was broken. I found a FPS framework I had been working on but the code got broken with the release of 2.32, so before I binned it I thought I'd have yet another go at getting it at least to run. This was about 6.00 am monday morning, well I did have the whole of the day to myself, quite a rare occurrence. At around 11.00 am it was up and running, took an hour to locate all the assets it utilised lol. Still full of bugs and problems, I thought what the ... Heck .. and sat down with a gallon pot of coffee and tinkered with it ... and tinkered.. and tinkered a little more .. by the afternoon I was down to two issues, both to do with parenting objects in the transparency world. I left this and started looking through other code and slowly began to add different proof of concepts I had worked on over the last year or so...
     
    Don't you just hate it when that happens ...
     
    OOP's I did it again ....
     
    I continued to tweak and tinker and add ..at around 10pm .. I had an Idea how to tackle the original transparency/parenting problem whilst chatting with Paul. At around 11.30pm I realised, the makings of a game had been born ... that game is currently known as:
     
    Furious Frank
     

     
    Well, its quite an easy "game" at the moment with infinite ammo and infinite life even if the HUD is telling me its running down .. but not a bad days work I felt .. hopefully next monday I can wrangle some more time and tweak it and add to it.
     
    If I get time today, I will upload a demo to the showcase under the title, MAGIA Monday (as I Dont have time to spend a month on it).
     
    Source
  13. Marleys Ghost
    Firstly, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a belated happy new year. I hope you all have had a great start to it.
     
    I have not been doing much on the coding front for the last few weeks. I decided to get some assets created and try and develop my texturing skills a little further.
     
    I also purchased Silo 3D Pro over the Christmas period as it was on offer. I had used the demo and was impressed at how "comfortable" it was to use. I now use this package as my main modeller but in conjunction with AC3D and UU3D. Basically Ultimate Unwrap 3D is the junction where all my modelling and art packages meet. Not only for Leadwerks with its .gmf export for both static meshes and animated assets but for all the engines I use, for me its an invaluable tool and a good investment for the minimal cost.
     
    I have need of a modular corridor/room set, and decided to set about seeing just how low you can go with the poly count and how much you can offset the inherent "flatness" of a low poly environment with normal mapping and "hand painted" textures. This would be moving on directly from a previous flirtation with texturing which can be found here. Some more incriminating evidence can be seen in the gallery as well, fairly obvious I am no artist.
     
    Another aspect of texturing I have been playing with is bump mapping. I use ShaderMap Pro which is great but making bumpmaps from diffuse textures can have horrible "side effects" when creating panelling.
     
    Diffuse only:
     

     
    Diffuse and Normal map created directly from the Diffuse texture by ShaderMap Pro:
     

     
    Not really the effect I was after. After a few ideas and some testing I found hand crafting a Normal map "template" from which a Normal map would be generated by ShaderMap Pro gave much better results for this exercise.
     

     
    I then made the first test section of the low poly modular level pack:
     

     
    The textures were then UV mapped onto the section in UU3D and then converted all over to .gmf .dds and created the .mat files using ADN ... I love ADN truly one of the most useful tools written by a community member ever!!
     

     
    I Lined a few of them up just for show .. 480 polys not bad .. considering the default rusty oildrum is 256.
     

     
    Encouraged by the result thus far I moved on, making the section bigger but retaining the tilable nature of the textures
     
     


     
     
    Unfortunately real life commitments caused a pause in my endeavours until a day ago so I have spent the last few hours refining some aspects and making a few more test sections:
     

     

     

     
    The overall effect of the technique I am developing can be seen better in this video (HD available):
     
     


     
     
    This is currently the point I am at, With some preliminary drafts for doors/doorways rooms and elevators/elevator shafts ect. I am trying to reach a point where variation is only a texture change away on standard section low poly models. I am still getting my templates organised and fine tuning the work flow and still very much a WIP, but so far I am quite pleased with the results.
     
    Source
  15. Marleys Ghost
    I was informed yesterday that the terrain hole functionality was working in Blitzmax, so I did a quick half hour test. This is a feature I find very attractive for level design. The ground cover (small bushes and ferns) is just place holder art, and all the foliage was just "slapped" in for effect. The concept is a simple, hole in the ground which gives access to (eventually) a large underground modular bunker system. A simple hole cover/access/room model was knocked up in 5 mins in 3DWS. The terrain is something I have been working on and have yet to finish.
     
     
     


     
     
     
    Source
  17. Marleys Ghost

    Textures

    By Marleys Ghost,

    I recently asked one of my nieces who is currently doing media and photography courses at college to keep an eye open for some "Gnarly Wood" textures. She emailed with a few images she had remembered to take. I spent an hour or two playing with them and quickly knocked up a place holder model in 3DWS to try out the two textures I had made from the images:
     
     

     
     

     
    I then placed the model in an island scene I had built to test post processing effects using an application I have written in C++ using Leadwerks Engine 2.28, I was quite pleased with the result.
     
     

     
     
    Whilst my texturing skills still need development (as with everything else), I found it a very interesting exercise.
     
     
    Source
  21. Marleys Ghost
    Actually I don't hate AppTime() I just don't like using it in some instances. Its extremely useful and from what I can tell a more accurate mechanism to use than AppSpeed().
     
    Whilst working on Furious Frank, one thing I noticed and it always caught my eye, was what I term “Chorus Line Syndrome” where using the basic AppTime() frame incrementing code for looping animations results in a regimented animation playback for like models/characters. I have ignored this issue thus far as it was not such a big deal in the early stages. However I decided it needed to be sorted, rather than just left as this issue will no doubt crop up again and its always handy when problems do arise again to have a basic template solution. First I took the lua entity script for the bug and removed all dependence on AppTime() completely using AppSpeed() to adjust for running speed variations. This worked fine but still broke down under high stress tests. The only way I can simulate high stress is to run some background applications and Fraps. Of course some breakdown would come about when the stress is heavy. I then switched to using a mechanism that relied on AppTime() as the base, but not in the same way that it was used for the basic AppTime() frame incrementing code for looping animations. There was still some breakdown under heavy load but not as much as the AppSpeed() based script.
     
    Utilising this script with other aspects to add extra randomness to same type character animation playback I made a few tests. The results are in the video below, in the first part the “Red Bugs” are running the original script and the “Blue Bugs” the new one. In the second half of the video I applied the template to some “Fast Horde” zombie AI I had been working on previously:
     
     


     
     
    Some synchronisation still occurs but that's just inevitable given the constraints of the character models used, that is, how many frames per loop are used in a cycle of animation and indeed how many animation types per action there are. Even slightly interrupting the “Chorus Line Syndrome” has much nicer results. I added some small mechanisms to the “Fast Horde” zombie script to continually mix things up over time. But all in all I am much happier with the results than not having addressed it. There is still some translational movement patterns, like the "flying V" the Zombies exhibit in the video now and again, but I already have a solution involving types of same entity types to add a few extra parameters to help limit the occurrence.
     
    As for Furious Frank, I'd like to say a big thank you to Paul Thomas for his contribution to this little side project. Paul kindly integrated into Furious Franks source code one of his older basic cloud and ToD (Time of Day) systems. It will need tweaking for the project but it was most generous. Heres a little look at the current stage of integration:
     
     


     
     
    When more time is permitting I will continue with working toward a release of Furious Frank V0.03
     
    The current version of Furious Frank can be found here:
     
    Furious Frank V0.03
     
    Previous entries for this project:
     
    MAGIA .. Monday
     
    MAGIA .. Monday ... and a little bit.
     
    MAGIA .. Monday .. a little bit .. and beyond
     
     
    Source
  22. Marleys Ghost

    Happy New Year!!

    By Marleys Ghost,

    Nothing much to report at the moment, still tinkering with some ideas, but thought I would take this opportunity to wish everyone, a happy, safe and rewarding new year.
     
    Happy New Year Everyone.
  23. Marleys Ghost

    5 Hours !!!!

    By Marleys Ghost,

    5 Hours ago I started "playing" with the road feature in the new editor .. 5 hours ago !!! no, not because there is a problem its just been way so much fun if you recall the video Josh did of this function, let me say its way more fun driving than being the passenger, but that aside this feature is simply great, and will suit a project I have in mind down to a tee. Took a while to figure out a few things I was doing wrong but the end results have been exactly what I was after. Top marks for this, I think I will need a few more days off to try out all the other features, oddly I feel a bout of flu coming on <coff coff>
  24. Marleys Ghost
    Well that was a nice surprise, having resigned myself to the fact that even though it was the 23rd today, the time difference between myself and Pacific time meant I would have to wait until 8pm tonight to upgrade to 2.3
     
    But on awaking I found Josh had already sent the emails for upgrading .. Having today off means I can now spend it in its entirity "playing" ..
     
    Leadwerks Editor 2.3, New forum, Blogs, gallery, file storage, customizable profiles, videos...
     
    Who needs Christmas?
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